Seventh Turning
by Lauriel01
Summary: A small boy's life crumbles around him as his family and home are destroyed. He attaches himself to the four member team of strangers who come through the Ancestral Ring, especially their leader, a tall dark-haired man called 'Sheppard'.


_A/N: Written as a secret santa for Rhymer23. Also, thank you very much to Jani for the beta. All remaining errors are mine alone. Spoilers for first half of season 4.  
_

**Seventh Turning**

I am Stevani, and I am the last of the old people. Listen, and I shall tell you my story. The story of the day the world died.

It was the summer of my seventh Turning. I had been out playing after sun-high amongst the cappalas and my fingers and lips were stained purple from the cappa berries I had been eating. I knew I would be in trouble when I got home, because my mother had warned me not to eat them. But to a child barely Turned seven, cappa berries are much nicer than gorma root and kafta shoots. I sneaked in the back entrance of my home, hoping to change my clothes and wash my face before I was caught with the incriminating evidence.

I tiptoed down the passageway, and paused when I heard my father's voice. He was afraid, and I don't remember ever hearing him sound like that before. I slipped a little closer to the room, hid myself behind the wall hanging that covered the small nook where the spare blankets and winter coats were kept (a useful hiding spot that unfortunately I was growing out of) and settled in to listen.

I didn't understand most of the conversation.

"But why would these Asurans come to us? We have done nothing to them." My father was asking. I couldn't understand why he would be afraid of these men coming to visit. When you are but a child, anyone new coming to your small world seems like an exciting event. The loss of that childish innocence is a painful thing, no matter how necessary it may be.

At this point I became aware that strangers were in there with my father. I heard a man's voice, deep and strangely accented.

"They're at war with the Wraith. They think that by eliminating the Wraith's food source, they will weaken their enemy." The voice said grimly.

"But we haven't had a culling for generations!" My father replied heatedly.

Another voice, higher and faster, started speaking.

"It doesn't matter to them. Look, we've been monitoring them and there are three Aurora class ships entering this system. Yours is the only inhabited planet. You do the math." I'd never seen a ship then. Now they haunt my nightmares and I cannot forget.

"So what do you think we should do?" I was scared now. I had never known my father to hesitate in his leadership, and our people had prospered under his hand. Even in the winter of my fifth Turning, when it felt like the world had frozen and the sun would never return. My father had led with confidence and hope, and had handled everything well. But now? Who were these strangers, and who were these Asurans, and why was my home suddenly not the safe place it had been at the sun's rising? I bit my tongue so I didn't cry.

A moment later I was too frightened to cry. I heard a huge noise, like an avalanche had started behind me, and a strong wind pressed me into the wall. I felt heat wash over me, but hidden in my little nook I couldn't see anything. I heard the first stranger's voice say "We're too late. It's started." I remember his voice well. The words he spoke were not comforting at all. But there was no fear in the voice, just anger and resolve. I clung to the voice and waited for it to speak again, and tried not to listen to the other voices that were coming from outside, because all those voices were screaming.

The voice spoke again, telling my father that they needed to get everyone to the 'gate. The voice sounded closer, so I peeked out the edge of the hanging. I saw my father leaving the room with the strangers. There were four of them – a giant warrior, who was so tall he had to duck to get through the doorway. He moved the way a hartha does when it hunts a kirri, quiet but intense. The hunter lady was small and quiet. Amongst our people, women don't hunt, but she carried herself the same way Pavali and Cerrus and the rest of the hunters do. There was the kirri man, taller than the woman, but shorter than all of the other men there. He had quick, nervous movements, like a kirri when it is hiding in the long grass. It tries to stay still, but it makes quick little shifts as it looks around. Even when it is still it has a coiled energy to it. The fourth man came last, watching everyone. He was angry, but I could tell that he wasn't angry with the others because he looked at them the same way my father looks at the hunters when they have to go out on the really dangerous hunts in the winter.

"We've got to get them moving." The giant warrior said. My father and the strangers moved quickly past me and opened the door. Outside I saw my people running and screaming as smoke filled the air. I saw the house next to ours was burning, and a hand tightened around my heart as I thought of my friend Davri. Was he in the house or was he safe? I didn't know. I wanted to go and help him, but another loud explosion rocked the ground. I let the hanging drop back and pressed myself against the wall. This time, I couldn't help it, I started to cry. I wanted my mother, but I didn't know where she was. I wanted my father to come back and hold me in his strong arms and tell me I was safe. I really wanted to wake up in my bed and realise this was all just the night spirits. I don't know how long I stayed hidden there, but it couldn't have been long. More explosions rolled through the village, and I didn't want to go outside, but the stone walls around me became uncomfortably hot. I stepped out from behind the hanging and away from the wall, and realised that the timber roof was beginning to burn. I ran to the door.

At the open door, I stopped, mouth dry and heart aching so much I thought it would break. The village was nothing I could recognise and call familiar. Many of the buildings were burning and in some places there were giant crators where buildings used to be. Smoke filled the air, making everything hazy and making it hard to breathe. I coughed as I looked around for my father, but the fires gave the smoke an eerie orange tinge that made the people running past me look strange and unrecognisable. I had heard my father and the strangers say they were going to get everyone through the 'gate. I guessed that the 'gate was the Ancestral Ring, since that must be how the strangers came, so I headed in that direction.

I heard another explosion, and looked over to my house. It was gone. There was nothing there, except flame. How could it burn so quickly? I didn't understand until a movement caught my eye, and I looked up. I saw my first ship. It was huge. It was the colour of thunderclouds, heavy with rain and lightning. I had heard the stories of the elders about Wraith cullings although the stories of the elders were from long ago, before even my grandfather's time. But in the stories, the ships were small and narrowed at the front like a spear. This ship was bigger than anything I had heard tell of, and was bulky and bulbous at the front. I scanned the sky, and saw another ship in the distance, near the Thanai village. A small ball of yellow lightning streaked from the ship to the ground. I realised that the ships were at the other villages too, and I felt cold and numb inside. I put my head down and kept running, wiping the tears away when it got too hard to see.

I had not come far when I saw my father. He was with two of the strangers, the hunter lady and the kirri man. They were talking to Cerrus and four of the hunters who had gathered at Cerrus' home. As I took a couple of steps towards them, one of the yellow lights came from the ship and struck the building near them. I ran though the smoke towards them, yelling my father's name. I saw the two strangers first. The kirri man was half under a collapsed wall. His face was grey with stone dust and smoke grime. A dark patch of blood on his forehead showed brightly against pale skin. He was calling for the hunter lady, Teyla.

"Rodney! Hold on!" When she spoke I was able to find her. The smoke was thicker, and she was coughing from it. She rushed forward and held Rodney's hand. She started talking to someone else, but I stopped paying attention to her as I saw my father. He was with three of the hunters and I didn't have to touch them to know they were all dead. They didn't look asleep like old Sharna when she died last winter. I closed my eyes and ran into the forest.

The run through the forest was something I could never clearly describe afterwards. The trees at the edge had caught fire, whether from the ships or from the spreading flames from the village, I couldn't say. The flames raced above me, raining fiery twigs and hot cinders down on me as I ran, arms above my head to ward off the worst of it. The smoke wound among the trees like a pareeki serpent, wrapping around me and tightening my chest until it hurt to breathe. Finally I started to clear the flames, and I noticed life in the forest for the first time. I almost died of fright when a hartha appeared out of the smoke beside me. I froze, but it paid no attention to the small boy clinging to a prahini sapling and loped through the underbrush with the speed and strength and grace that made it such a deadly hunter. I breathed a sigh of relief when it passed me, and continued my own journey.

The Ancestral Ring was some distance from the village, even though our village was the closest to it. I had been running through the forest for what felt like days, but it must have only been for one shifting of the sun. I walked to the Ancestral Ring with my father once, and it took us three shifts. I must have covered close to half that distance running from the flames. I walked more slowly now, looking around me for landmarks. I spotted the rock mound rising over to the left and nodded to myself. Yes, I was just over half way to the Ring. Davri once said that the rocks looked like a hartha leaping, but I could never see it. Davri was like that, sometimes. To me, it just looked like a pile of rocks. I picked some cappa berries and sat on the rocks for a short rest. I remembered my mother's warning not to eat the berries or I would spoil my dinner, and felt a hard lump in my throat at the thought. The village was burning - there would be no fire pit with kirri roasting over it. There would be no women in a chattering group peeling the stringy coating off the green kafta shoots to reveal the crisp, tangy centres. There would be no Davri to try and steal my gorma roots while they were hot and steaming. He loved gorma roots, while I much prefer the sweet tastes of berries and juini fruit. I would have happily given him my roots, but it was fun to try and stop him from stealing mine. Suddenly I wasn't hungry anymore and I threw the rest of the berries into the scrub. I stood up to leave when a hand clamped over my mouth, and a strong arm pulled me to the ground.

I was set down in front of one of the strangers that had been with my father. He was tall, dressed all in black. His hazel eyes had tights lines around them as he regarded me. I've often wondered what he thought of me, a small boy covered in smoke-grime and dirt. My clothes were singed, and my hair, no longer fair because of the dirt clinging to it, was singed even more badly since my run through the forest. My arms and legs were scratched and bleeding, and my fingers and mouth still stained purple from the berries. It must have been a sight to pity, because his eyes softened and his hands released their tight grip on me. He placed one finger over his lips, and then removed his other hand from my mouth and pointed to the west.

I looked where he indicated and was surprised to see two figures walking carefully through the trees. They were wearing beige and light brown clothes of a strange weave and cut. They carried weapons, similar to the one the stranger carried, but different as well. One of them veered in our direction, and I sank lower into the shoran bushes. The stranger next to me also lowered himself further into the bushes, but he slid slowly forward and raised his weapon, sighting along his arm. I found myself holding my breath as I watched him, and then releasing it in a huffing exhalation as his weapon found its mark. The Asuran disappeared in a cloud of fine, silvery powder. I was so amazed and frightened by this, that I almost forgot where I was. I was brought back to myself as the man next to me leapt up and out of the bushes firing at the second Asuran. An energy beam from the Asuran weapon hit him in the side, and he spun and fell to the ground. He rolled over onto his stomach and fired again from a prone position. The Asuran disintegrated the same as his companion.

I crawled over to the man, too frightened to stand up. He was lying on his stomach still, with his head lowered onto his arm. I reached out a shaky hand and touched his shoulder. He groaned and lifted his head, giving me an indecipherable look before hoisting himself up and over to a nearby tree. He lowered himself slowly down and leaned against the tree's broad trunk, closing his eyes for a moment and letting out a long breath. He raised his hand to his ear momentarily.

"Ronon. How'd you go?" I started, staring at him. Then I was more amazed as a faint voice replied. I looked around for the other man, but soon realised they were speaking into a device.

"We got him out from under the wall," I recognised the deep, gruff voice of the tall warrior. "but he's in bad shape and we had to carry him out of the village. It's gone."

"The villagers?"

"None that we could see. Only the ones you took with you."

"Damn!" he said angrily. "The bastards sent clean up crews through the forest. They killed most of the group I was with. Only about eight of them survived the ambush." He said grimly.

"You okay?" The deep voice demanded.

"I'll live. It's Rodney I'm worried about. Where are you now?"

"In the forest, about two clicks from the village. What about you?"

"About halfway to the 'gate. The bad news is, so are the Asurans. There's too many of them. I could take out a few, but then I'd be in trouble. And I've got a kid with me." He looked at me and grinned, but he didn't smile with his eyes.

"Sheppard, if they've got people sweeping the forest, you know they aren't going to leave until they've cleared it, right?" The deep voice sounded worried.

"Yeah. Can you move Rodney?" he asked, frowning with worry.

"Teyla's rigging up a litter. She's nearly done."

"Right. When you're ready, start heading to the 'gate, but be careful. I'll meet you there." He bit his lip and creased his forehead thoughtfully as he said it.

"Okay." The gruff voice ended, and I looked over at the man. Sheppard, the tall warrior had called him. He pulled back his coat and examined the place where he had been wounded. The black vest was burned at the bottom, although it had protected some of his side. His hip and waist, though, were burned in a patch about as large as his spread hand and blood and yellow liquid were seeping through the singed clothing. He saw me watching him.

"Well, a field dressing isn't going to do much, hey?" I didn't know what a field dressing was, but I walked back over to the shoran bush and pulled two of the leaves off and offered them to him.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Shoran leaves. They take the pain away." I remembered the previous year when I had been climbing and a stone had shifted under my foot. I had slid down to the bottom and my ankle had given way with a loud and painful crack. Through the tears I had seen bone poking out of the skin above my foot. I had sucked on one of the leaves, as my mother had taught me, and the pain lessened enough for me to crawl back to the village and get help. It was painful and scary, but I was glad for the leaves. I wouldn't have been able to move otherwise, and injured people often don't last long enough in the forest for help to arrive.

Sheppard looked at the leaves and then at me, doubt creasing his forehead.

"Thanks, but these will have to do for now." He showed me two small white round things in his hand before putting them to his mouth and swallowing. I shrugged and put the shoran leaves in my tunic, in case he needed them later.

"What's your name?" He asked, wincing as he climbed slowly to his feet.

"Stevani." I watched him, a bit afraid of him, but more afraid that he'd leave me on my own.

"I don't know how you made it this far by yourself, but it's nice to meet you Stevani. Come on. Let's get out of here."

Sheppard led me back to where the other survivors from my village were. One of the survivors was Davri's mother. I was grieved to find that Davri wasn't with her. I wanted to ask, but the pain in her eyes when she saw me told me I wouldn't want to hear the answer. I looked around at faces I'd known all my life made unfamiliar by pain and loss. My own mother was not among the refugees. A hard lump settled painfully in my chest. Davri, father. Now mother too. I found my gaze drawn involuntarily towards the village, where there was a red, angry glow.

"C'mon," Sheppard said, and quietly turned me from the glow. We walked most of the way to the Ring, then Sheppard staggered a little, catching himself against a tree. He turned and slid down the trunk until he was in a sitting position. The others hesitantly took seats, and I went and sat next to him.

"Short break, kiddo." He lifted a flap in his clothing and brought out a shiny silver thing. I backed away nervously, but he tore the silver stuff and broke the inside part in half, handing some to me. He smiled at me, then took a bite of his half. My stomach gave a small growl, telling me its opinion, so I took the food. It tasted kind of funny, but I ate it anyway. I spotted a juini tree nearby and rose to pick two of the round, yellow fruits. I handed one to him, then sat down again and ate mine. It tasted much better than the stranger's food, and cleared away the funny taste from my mouth.

After a quick rest, we continued on to the Ancestral Ring. As we neared it Sheppard motioned the others to stay still. I followed determinedly. Sheppard glowered at me and warned me to be quiet, and slipped silently forward. We peered through the underbrush, and my heart sank to find four of the grim looking Asurans standing guard at the Ring, each clutching one of their strange looking weapons. I glanced involuntarily at Sheppard's side. I did not particularly want to go past those Asurans. Sheppard tapped his radio.

"Ronon," he called quietly. "Where are you?"

There was no answer.

"Ronon? Teyla?" There was still no answer for a moment, then the hunter lady, Teyla, answered.

"Colonel. We are getting close to the 'gate." Her voice sounded strained.

"What happened? Is everyone okay?" Sheppard hissed, frowning.

"Rodney has still not improved, but he is no worse either. We will be there shortly." There was an unspoken urgency in her voice.

"Understood. How long?" Sheppard asked, frowning in the Ring's direction.

"Ten minutes." Teyla answered.

"Don't be late." He turned to me. "Wait here."

He moved closer to the Ring, moving around the edge of the clearing. He moved in a crouch, taking his time and moving from tree to tree to stay out of sight of the Asurans. I lost sight of him as he neared the furthest edge of the clearing. I waited on my own, and suddenly the forest noises seemed a lot louder and more threatening. I started at a rustle in the bush behind me, and turned to stare intently at the spot. Nothing moved. I turned back and examined the Asurans again. The seemed meaner, and their guns looked a lot larger than they had previously. I swallowed noisily through a throat gone suddenly dry. I scanned the edge of the clearing, but couldn't see anything. Where was he? Another rustle behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin when Sheppard materialised.

He must have seen me jump, because he smiled brightly at me. "It's just me."

There was a loud movement from the forest behind us, and the smile disappeared from his face as his turned quickly and pulled his weapon up. The tall warrior, Ronon, kicked free of a tangle of undergrowth and walked over, his unconscious companion draped over his shoulder.

"What the hell happened?" Sheppard demanded as Ronon lowered his burden to the ground

"What do you think?" Ronon answered sourly. "Asuran ambush. Too many to stand and fight. Teyla drew them off so I could get Rodney out. Couldn't keep the litter, so I don't know how much of a favour I'm doing him." They both looked down at the stocky man lying unconscious at their feet. I looked at the pale face, and was not filled with much hope for him. I leaned in closer. I saw a slight flutter in his chest and was relieved to see he still breathed. "I'm going back to help Teyla."

"No." Sheppard put a hand on the big man's chest to halt him. "Stay here with Rodney and the kid. I'll need you to carry him through the 'gate if..." He trailed off and left the thought unspoken. He darted off into the forest instead. I didn't want to stay with the stern giant warrior, so I quietly slipped after Sheppard. The tall man was paying attention to his friend, so by time he noticed I was leaving, I was out of reach of the giant hand that made a grab for me.

I followed Sheppard through the forest, listening to the sound of his voice as he called short queries to Teyla over the radio. A minute later, I dropped to the ground as the sound of gunfire echoed through the trees. I wriggled under a bush and watched. Teyla was crouched behind a tree, with about six Asurans steadily approaching her. Sheppard stood with his back to a tree nearby, turning to face the Asurans and fire a burst of bullets at them, then putting his back to the tree again as they returned fire.

"Teyla, go!" He shouted, and turned and fired another burst. Teyla got up and ran towards me. Sheppard ran as well, still in line with the tree to use its shelter for as long as possible. He fired his weapon behind him as he ran. I crawled out from my hiding spot and ran with him.

"What are you...?" he pulled me to the ground as another round of Asuran energy bolts streaked over our heads. He didn't finish his sentence, but fired at the Asuran who had shot at me. The Asuran disintegrated. Sheppard scrambled to his feet, and gave me a dark, angry look as he hauled me up and thrust me ahead of him. We ran back to the others, with Sheppard and Teyla continuing to fire over their shoulders as we ran.

We returned to where we had left the others. They were huddling behind whatever cover they could find while the Asurans at the Ring, alerted by the gunfire from our battle, and were firing into the trees. I noticed that there were now only three. Ronon was firing his own gun back at them, and the clearing between the forest and the Ring was filled with red and yellow stripes of energy. Sheppard and Teyla crouched behind trees near him, firing behind them at the Asurans that had followed us. I tumbled in beside them, frightened and weary from the run. As I tumbled, I caught a flash of sun off metal. I grabbed Sheppard's arm and pointed. He followed my arm, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of the Asuran ship leaving its station over the village and heading slowly and stately towards us.

"We need to take them out now, or we're all dead!" Sheppard called to Ronon. The tall man nodded agreement, and they both stood up and charged forward. The Asurans guarding the Ring had been advancing, and weren't expecting the two warriors to rush them. One died as Sheppard moved in close enough for his weapon to pummel the Asuran with its force. Ronon fired on the second, but he dodged the beam and closed the gap between them. He lashed out and I saw Ronon's gun slide through the dirt. Ronon grabbed the Asuran around the waist and threw him to the ground, reaching for his hip as he did. A large knife appeared in the big warrior's hand, and then disappeared equally as fast into the Asuran.

While Ronon was engaged with his opponent, Sheppard had gotten too close to the third Asuran. They were struggling together, each with two hands wrapped around Sheppard's gun. The Asuran staggered back as Sheppard kicked out at him. It punched him back and knocked him flying towards the Ring device and turned Sheppard's own gun on him. Sheppard rolled over as bullets hit the ground where he'd just been, and then rolled back in the other direction, gaining his feet as a fresh burst of bullets spat dirt up around him. He spied Ronon's gun in the dirt and made a desperate dive for it. His hand closed on the gun and he finished the dive already firing. The red light encased the Asuran.

"Still love that gun." He said, as he tossed it back to Ronon and bent over to get his own weapon from the pile of dust that had been the Asuran holding it. He straightened up again, and I noticed he was clutching at the side that he had injured earlier.

"Ronon, get Rodney and start getting those people through the 'gate." He trotted over to the Ring device, hunching over slightly to favour his right side. I ran over to him as he leaned against the device and pressed the icons to activate the Ring.

Ronon ran through the ring, the unconscious Rodney once more draped over his shoulder. The villagers started to follow through behind him, and I watched Davri's mother step through. I mourned once more that my friend was not with her. Teyla followed my people, covering them from the Asurans behind us with long bursts of weapons fire. In spite of her efforts, I saw Kanyri fall at the Ring. Sheppard grabbed my shoulder and dragged me with him towards the Ring, joining Teyla in firing at the Asurans. I saw them reach the edge of the clearing before a burst of blue surrounded me and I rolled onto the hard red floor of a city in a new world.

I looked up to see Sheppard and Teyla follow me though the Ring, then a shimmering cover appeared in front of it. There was a small 'zzt' sound and the cover glittered brightly in the centre. Then the Ring closed down and the shield disappeared. There was a moment of silence. I turned and looked for Sheppard. I saw him standing there, pale and holding his side, looking over at his friend. I followed his gaze and saw that Rodney was surrounded by a group of people in white coats. They were lifting him on to a bed that moved on small round disks. The people milling around him parted momentarily, and I saw a red-haired lady putting a clear mask on his face and attaching some sort of unfathomable equipment to him. She was giving out lots of orders to the people around him, and her voice held the same authority as my father's when he was ordering the hunters. I felt a tension leave my own shoulders at her voice, and turned back to ask Sheppard who she was.

He was standing there with a strange look on his face, and his eyes were open but glassy, like he was really asleep. His hand tightened on his side, and his knees buckled. I rushed over as he slowly collapsed, but Teyla was quicker and she caught him before he crashed into the hard flooring. My own crash to the floor went unheeded as I slid over next to her and held Sheppard's hand as she called people over. I was pushed out of the way as more of the people in white coats came over to tend to Sheppard. They put him on one of the rolling beds and rushed him off in the same direction as they had Rodney.

I felt lost and small. I thought I had cried myself out during the destruction of my village, but I felt more tears threaten as I stood alone in the corner of that big room. I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder, and I looked up into deep, kind, brown eyes.

"He will be okay." Teyla said softly. She pulled me in close to her, and walked with me to the place where the last of my people to survive the attack were being led.

Two days later, we were ready to move out to another world. This world was populated by people called the Idri. I didn't know what they were like, but Teyla said that she knew them, and they were warm and friendly people. I'd like to go to my own home, but there are too few of us to survive its bitter winter.

They let me see Sheppard before I left. I went into the place they called 'infirmary' and saw him. He was awake and his face was a normal colour. He was sitting up in a bed, wearing soft red clothes that made his skin look darker. I said hello and he looked up and smiled at me.

"Hey kiddo! How are you?"

"Fine. I'm going to a new home today. I don't want to. I want to stay with you." If I couldn't go home, that was my next choice.

"You've seen what my life is like." He shrugged and gave me a wry grin. "You'll like it better on MX5-341. The Idri will look after you." He looked up at Teyla for support, and she smiled at me and nodded encouragingly.

"Will your friend get better?" I asked, partially to change the subject. Sheppard's face darkened a moment, then he smiled again.

"He's fine too. He was lucky- that wall that collapsed on him could have left him paralysed. But the Doc knows her business and Rodney's too stubborn to be beaten by a drone and a few bits of stone. He's in that room there, if you want to see him." I didn't know Rodney, but he was important to Sheppard, so I went over and looked in the room but I didn't go in. Rodney was sitting up in bed. He had lots of tubes and equipment attached to him. He was pale, with dark circles under his eyes. He saw me in the doorway and gave me a surprised, shy sort of grin and a wave. I waved back and turned around. Sheppard had more people at his bed than before, and he was talking and laughing with them. I walked slowly to the door. I didn't want to go out of the infirmary, because that meant leaving here, leaving him and going to a whole new world, a whole new life. I dragged my feet as I neared the door.

"Hey, Stevani!" I turned around, my heart in my mouth. Sheppard was looking over at me. "I'll call in and say hi, as soon as I can. Okay?"

"Okay." I smiled at him. I left the infirmary, feeling a little happier and a lot less worried about the new world.

Many years have passed since that day. My seventh Turning is a distant memory, succeeded by so many other Turnings that I do not care to count. My hands are no longer the small, smooth hands of a boy, stained purple from picking berries. They are old and brown and carved with the passage of many summers. I never was able to pick more cappa berries. The survivors of my world were so few that we could not return alone. Instead, the Lanteans placed us on another world, one you know well, since you were born here. Your grandfather gave me a home, and your grandmother raised me as her own. The other survivors had a harder time adjusting, as they were older. But adjust they did, and although they are gone now, there are four families in this world that carry their blood in their veins.

My time draws near, and the endless winter awaits me. I feel its cold approach in my old, brittle bones, and I know its snows will claim me soon. When I leave, you and the other children will be all that are left of our world. Let it live on in your memories, in your children's memories and the memories of their children. Let my story remind you of what died, and of the four people who's courage and bravery held on to the last fragment of our people and refused to let them die. John, my son, remember, so our people and theirs may live on forever.

-_fin_

_Disclaimer: While elements of this story are created by me, all elements of this story attributable to SGA belong to MGM and SCIFI. I merely borrowed them to have a little fun, and have returned them mostly undamaged. _


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